Grandia II (2000)

This was one of the first RPGs I every played through as a kid, and let me tell you, the big twist 3/4's through really blasted my little baby head back into the couch when I first experienced it.

Re-playing this as an adult though, I realize that the story is really weak, especially when compared to the first Grandia game. I don't know what this game lacks, but something about the move to 3D graphics saps all the charm and soul from the world.

I do think the soundtrack is excellent and the combat remains well designed, but I couldn't help but be tired of battles even on my super fast play through.

It is a shame this series never really took off, because clearly from the first game, this team had some excellent ideas. But compared to the flash of the final fantasy or dragon quest games, grandia is always going to be relegated to a niche audience. I'm sure there are a lot of fans out there, but to anyone who reads this, I'd recommend a myriad of other RPGs to tackle before coming to Grandia II.

Back in the year 2000 when my Official Dreamcast Magazine subscription was still running hot, a constant topic of debate was which game would take the JRPG crown: Skies of Arcadia or Grandia II?

At the time, my money was on Skies: It had pirates and a playable demo. When I finally got around to playing it (well after the Dreamcast's heyday), it mostly lived up to the hype... except for all that grinding!

So now, 22 years after its initial release, I finally got around to playing Skies' rival, Grandia Il. My verdict?

It's also great! Not perfect, but great!

I'll get the negatives out of the way: Compared to Arcadia, Grandia II's world is pretty unremarkable. Imagine a stereotypical JRPG setting, and you probably aren't far off. It doesn't help that the game's patchwork of low-poly character models, 2-D animation and CGI FMV sequences don't coalesce as convincingly today as they might have on release. And the overall journey suffers from a lack of variety: It's pretty much town, dungeon, boss, town, dungeon, boss the whole way through.

What saves the game more than anything else is its combat. I never played the first Grandia, so I can't say how it compares, but this system just clicks for me. I'm a visual person, so having the sequence of events mapped to a timeline and being able to consider that in my moves was something I never got tired of. Honestly, this may be my favorite battle system of any turn-based RPG I've played.

I also loved its approachability. The simplicity of its structure meant I never felt lost or forced to consult a walkthrough. And grinding is entirely optional: As long as you aren't running away from most fights (you can see your opponents on the field), you'll probably make it through just fine.

But the most surprising element for me was the protagonist's character development. It won't be winning any awards for originality, but I was impressed by how convincingly Ryudo evolves from an unlikable brute to... well, I won't spoil it. All I'll say is that I hope Cloud's arc in the FFVII remake series is eventually as believable.

I wouldn't call Grandia II a masterpiece, or even particularly distinctive aside from its combat (especially in comparison to Skies of Arcadia). But if you're nostalgic for the sixth console generation and you're looking for a friendlier JRPG you can easily play while listening to podcasts, this one's a lot of fun!

RPG battles are something I merely tolerate. I'm not an RPG fan and the gameplay has never been the main reason I played one, it's usually the story and world building. Grandia 2 is probably the first RPG where I liked the battles. They're not random as enemy groups appear on the maps and you can choose to avoid or engage them. In battle, you can time your attacks to interrupt enemy and boss attacks.

The story and characters are pretty generic although there is one or two interesting twists near the end. Despite this I actually like the characters, particularly the conversation you can have with party members when you're all eating together. I forget what actually leads to them. But you have the choice of actively asking questions or just skipping the whole thing and not talking at all.

Like the title states Grandia 2 is pretty average in my opinion. The story is rather cliche but tolerable, the characters... I didn't find any features worth mentioning, they might as well be the same as your every day mob character. The battle system was rather good, similar to Grandia 1 and perhaps better if only slightly and lastly the music. The music was very good, there were some tracks which were boring as hell but there were also some which were great.

Out of 10 I would rate this game with a 7 at most but this is just my personal opinion, others might like this game a lot.